Moscow: A painting by Salvador Dali went under the hammer in Paris for 2 million euro (over $2.6 million), the Artcurial auction house said Wednesday.

The Sewing Machine with Umbrellas in a Surrealist Landscape was never auctioned before and was seen in public only once.

The 1941 oil and gouache on panel, measuring 22.5 by 30.3 cm, "conveys the grandiose effect of a cinema screening, with the monochrome composition seeming to capture the light of the silver screen", the auction house said.

It was drawn by Dali for the film Moontide (1942) under director Fritz Lang, but Lang was replaced and the painting was never used.